Hoya of Infinite has received plenty of praise for his acting skills in the famously popular drama Answer Me 1997. He seems to have surpassed the mediocre standard to which a lot of people hold idols-turned-actor, rising above expectations and playing his role well. Perhaps too well, it seems.

For those of you who haven’t watched the (amazingly life-changing) drama Answer Me 1997, Hoya plays the character Joon-hee, a gay high school student in love with his best friend Yoon-jae (played by the equally handsome Seo In-guk, who also rose to acting fame with this drama). He’s closeted to basically everyone, except for his other best friend Shi-won (the beautiful and talented Eunji of A Pink), to whom he comes out halfway through the drama.

Hoya’s role was that of a supporting actor (the drama focuses on Yoon-jae and Shi-won’s relationship) but nevertheless marked an important milestone in the representation of the gay community in Korean entertainment, especially on the silver screen. I identified intensely with Joon-hee’s character and his struggle with his sexuality. He struggles in a culture where his sexuality is misunderstood at best; I was a fan of an industry where I rarely see my sexual orientation represented at all, let alone such an authentic and non-judgmental representation. Joon-hee is a three dimensional character whose sexuality doesn’t define him but remains an important part of his life. And upon learning of Joon-hee’s secret, Yoon-jae isn’t disgusted or angry but treats him with the same respect and friendliness as he always did.

And so when I heard Hoya’s words on the 4 Things Show, they were at the same time surprising and expected. Surprising, because I had always thought of Hoya as proud of his first big acting role, and expected, because of the stigma that still surrounds sexual minorities.

On the February 10 episode of the 4 Things Show, Hoya and the other guests talked — quite fondly — about his role in Answer Me 1997. His acting was so good that people were asking, “Is he an idol? Or is he an actor?” Hoya himself talks about his role: “A lot of people got to know who I was through Answer Me, which was so well-known. And a lot of people thought of me as my character.”

The show played a montage of scenes from the drama, building up to the point where Joon-hee confesses to Yoon-jae and then plays it off as if it were only a joke. Hoya chuckles, too, and says that he got a lot of praise for his portrayal of Joon-hee, so he has no complaints. Yet, he does bring up how many people really thought he was gay after watching the drama.

Dongwoo, the other half of Infinite H, said that “A lot of people misunderstood.”

“Even other celebrities would ask me [if I was gay],” Hoya said. “I was shocked. At the time my trauma was really bad. I think that went on for more than a year after the drama ended.”

But what I think is important to remember is to keep his “trauma” in the context of the situation. I don’t think for an instant that Hoya is truly traumatized by playing a gay character. Where I think his shock comes from is from his sexuality repeatedly being questioned — for anyone, gay, straight or otherwise, having your sexuality constantly questioned after having explicitly said otherwise is a difficult and tiring experience.

Sexual minorities (to use the term that Hoya and the other guests use on the show, one that is common in Korean to refer to LGBT persons) continue to suffer discrimination in many parts of the world, and South Korea is no exception. Three out of five Koreans believe that society should not accept homosexuality, and only a quarter support equal marriage rights. Sexual minorities continue to stay hidden and live closeted lives, and as a result there is little to no public conversation about sexual minorities.

To this day, Joon-hee remains one of the very, very few gay characters in Korean television, and certainly the most popular gay character watched by recent audiences. Lee Min-ho pretended to be gay in order to share a house with the female lead in Personal Taste, but, seeing as his character was really straight, that doesn’t really count. Lee Jong-suk probably comes the closest to Hoya, having a supporting role in Secret Garden as gay musician Tae-sun, who was also in love with the male lead.

With Answer Me being so popular in Korea, it might be the first experience many people have had with any sort of authentic portrayal of homosexuality. (And the drama was definitely record breaking, holding the top spot for six straight weeks and the finale peaking at 9.08% — the highest rating for a cable drama in Korean history.) Despite these rationales, these celebrities and other people close to Hoya have no right to harass him with their suspicions, no matter how curious and well-intentioned they might have been. The problem at the heart of Hoya’s trauma is not playing a gay character, but the insensitivity of those around him.

At the same time, a tiny part of me would have loved to see him use these questions as an opportunity to start a conversation. These questions, although intrusive, provide a stepping stone to talking about the rights and issues of sexual minorities. That being said, the constant pressure he describes is something no one should have to face, and understandably he suffered emotional hardship because of that.

That being said, I am ever so proud of Hoya for taking on a role that so many would have lacked the confidence to play, and for playing the role so respectfully. That kind of courage, and the fact that he looks back on the acting role itself positively, shows to me that he does not regret playing a gay character. He says himself, “In my role as Joon-hee, I got a lot of love so I really have no complaints.”

Dongwoo sums it up well at the end of the segment: “It just means that Joon-hee — I mean, Hoya — is really good at acting. Good job!” If Hoya’s acting is good enough to convince people that he and his character are one and the same, then he’s doing a great job, and I’ll definitely look forward to his future as an actor and entertainer.

One of the things I find very odd about idol fan culture is homoerotic fan service and fanfiction. Many Asian cultures already have a more androgynous approach to what they define as male attractiveness. I do notice however that the door does not swing both ways. Males in Korea have the freedom to be just as smooth faced, flashy dressed, and wear makeup but women are not given such freedom. Idoldom has one “tomboy” and she gets a lot of press for it. I’ve often wondered how idol fans would react especially fans of groups like Shinee who is pretty blatant in their homoerotic fan service, if it should be revealed that their idols really are homosexual.

Sonwabile Sony Antonie

the internet would break, thats what would happen. Fans have this image of their idols in their head, thats why they go crazy when they date. To be honest I wholeheartedly agree with you that its really funny how its kinda like a double standard in a way. Men can do it but women cant. How many times have boy group members have crossdressed and it becomes a parody. While if women crossdress, its serious and dull unless its that Roommate lady but thats for gags.

Saif Chowdhury

The roles are completely reversed in the west, girls acting like tomboys are celebrated whereas boys are constantly discriminated for this type of behaviour and their look in East Asia, men don’t look like hairy apes in order to fit into macho western culuture.

bigmamat

I’m not talking just about how they look. That’s not such a big deal. I don’t think idols look so much feminine as they just look very young. Especially the boys. I’m talking about deliberately playing to their female fan’s homoerotic fantasies. This practice is certainly different from the west.
I wouldn’t say girls are encouraged to be tomboys in the west but lesbian sex in male pornography has been around so long it’s blase’. It’s all over pay cable. Frankly, I’ve seen enough boobs.

Olliana

Yeah, like the Belgian and French dudes on Abnormal Summit. Even they said their looks blended better in Korea than at home.

While I was watching this episode I couldn’t help but feel proud that Hoya looked on at his character fondly.
I’ve seen a lot of people misinterpreting what Hoya said, saying that it wasn’t so big of a deal to have a ‘trauma” over it, but they forget that this is Korea where being gay isn’t something you want to advertise, and regardless of where you live anybody would start feeling confused/concerned if your colleagues were repeatedly questioning your sexual orientation throughout the span of an entire year. These people weren’t just wondering behind his back, many were coming up to him and asking him in person, and others asking his friends about it. Hoya took the role as a professional, and he knew that people might misunderstand him for taking it, but he did wanted the role anyway. Whether he prepared himself for these reactions or not is one thing, but actually facing them is another. These weren’t just netizens typing on the internet, they were people he worked with. I don’t think he expected people to think his character was really him, and why should he? It was a drama, not real life. People should have known better than to think that the character one plays in a production like that is really what the actor is like.

Just throwing this out there:

“Making a member of one of the most popular idol group lately, act as a homosexual isn’t an easy thing. Even though it was difficult for Shin Wonho PD, the viewers perfectly accepted Kang Junhee and Hoya, who won their hearts and kept on getting praised.
“Even if he was playing a character who likes men, he never, not even once, expressed dissatisfaction. Honestly, idols have to care about their images but Hoya didn’t hesitate and played very well his character. I was very thankful that he followed me without any complaints. It was a tough role but since Hoya acted it out so well, of course, we were both happy.”

esalocanegra

Thank you very much Nick, nice article. As you could identify with his character, I too could relate as it reminded me of situations experienced by friends and other people I knew struggling with their sexuality. Joon-hee and Yoon-jae’s friendship/relationship, and the fact that it survived and even thrived was handled brilliantly in the story (both the writing and the acting). It rang true, and no doubt that was part of the success of the show, it spoke to others as well, whether or not they were willing to openly identify with the characters to others. Not only did Hoya do an excellent job portraying his character, but given how young he is, and the circumstances of his life at present, he handled his real self respectfully and responsibly as well. He could have freaked out and said some really ugly things, like some idols we have heard of, but he seems to have handled the situation in mature fashion, keeping the door open to discussion, not slamming the door in the face of those people represented in the character he played. That says a lot about his own character; and in that sense, he has been a very brave young man.

inseup

finally, someone who actually understand what hoya means. When i look at omona comments people were busy calling him a homophobe even without trying to look into the reason why he feel that way in the first place

pending

I’m going to admit I clicked into this article already writing an angry comment in my head– the reaction of a lot of international fans to this story (“how dare he say he was ‘traumatized’ it’s nothing compared to what actual LGBT in Korea go through”) left a really big chip on my shoulder. So I was really pleased to read such a balanced take on it.
A bit after Reply 1997 Hoya went on Weekly Idol to promote Infinite H’s album, and I still remember how a lot of their teasing him about the role really crossed a line for me personally, but he just had to stand there laughing awkwardly. If that was considered fun and good TV, I can’t imagine the kind of jokes or innuendo people treated him to off-camera. ‘Traumatized’ might be too strong of a word (or it might be an awkward translation, which happens) but I imagine he really had to put up with a lot and I’m glad he’s talking honestly about it.

Olliana

Me too. I had that same knee jerk reaction when I read the title, lol.

find_nothing_here

I was exactly the same. Took the words right out of my mouth.

I kind of find it odd that Hoya gets harrassed so much when Dongwoo’s the one groping other members butts constantly and then accidentally saying he likes guys with short hair. I guess it’s Dongwoo’s ability to play it off with shear audacity.

Cynthia Marie

I am so glad that people here actually understand what Hoya meant by that statement, and don’t just take that quote, with no regard to context or situation, and throw a fit over it. Hoya has spoken multiple time about people questioning his sexuality after Reply 1997, and like Nick said, it’s a trying experience constantly being questioned about your sexuality. Being questioned and speculated about in such a way by so many people so frequently can be seen as “traumatic” and some people don’t seem to get that this is what he’s referring to.

LeonHard2

Let’s get Jonghyun to calm down this boy.

Jennifer Anderson

I just stayed up until 3 am watching this television series. Hoya’s portrayal is one of the best I have ever seen. He should be applauded and so should the writers. I liked that Joon-hee was actually masculine and his friends continued respect and friendship for him even after he found out he liked him. He portrayed Joon-hee with subtlety, something that is lacking in western dramas. Hello Hollywood not every gay character has to be emasculated. Not every gay man in life has effeminate qualities, western television shows and movies needs more portrayals of gay characters like this and the kindness and acceptance that was shown in a beautiful subtle way. There were no big talks between the characters once he found out his childhood friend and roommate liked him. He knew about it but nothing was forced and no one needed to know that he knew, not because he was ashamed or felt grossed out, he gave Joon-hee the option of telling him. I loved that! This was truly a wonderful show and fantastically done. Everyone should be proud of that show and applauded.